I arrived in Dublin Thursday morning and immediately caught a bus south to be picked up by my family and taken to Delgany and Greystones which is literally right on the water. My family is amazing and I enjoy the conversation we have while traveling or cooking dinner. I took the Dart into Dublin city on Friday where my host family's youngest son, Alexander, his friend, and
I went to see the Book of Kels and Trinity College as well as Dublin Castle and Christ Church Cathedral. Saturday Muriel (my host mother),Alyson (her daughter), and I went to the Irish countryside of County Carlow where I met Muriel's extended family. We spent time on her brother's farm and at his riding stables. I've done a bit of traveling in Europe elsewhere but nothing has been quite so picturesque as the gardens and fields near to Mount Leinster.
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The school I'm working at is one half of the complex of Rathdown School. I will be working with girls in the junior schools from KG1 to P6. Their organization of grade levels are a bit different from what I'm accustomed to. KG1 caters to three and four year olds, KG2 to four and five year olds, and KG3 to five and six year olds. Then there are the P1 through P6 where the oldest children in P6 are eleven and twelve years of age. Rathdown appears to be somewhat different from the other schools where international student teachers are paced. In fact, I'm the first for the school. They're a private school that boards students from around the globe.
As far as their teaching strategies and methods are concerned, the teachers are responsible for one class and teach that specific class every subject. There is a specialist who comes in for music, drama, and P.E. but not for art. The older girls will go to the senior school to take art classes.
The teachers in this school seem to be much tougher on the girls as far as standards for behavior and presentation are concerned. The school not only provides for their education but also seems to be a place where etiquette and proper finishing is important. In the classes I've observed thus far, I've yet to see a girl cry from falling in the school yard, not share or fall back in a chair. I've found American teachers to have a sort of authoritative informality with their students. Here the teachers have a more formal and respectful relationship with their students.
My position in the school will serve as a sort of art liaison for all the teachers as needed, since the teachers are responsible for the art activities in their class. Already I've helped paint King Tut's mask and given suggestions on how to properly paper maché the Nile Delta and the Valley of the Kings. The curriculum is based on a state standard set up by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. I look forward to utilizing my knowledge and standards to learn from and teach to the many ages of girls I'll encounter at Rathdown.